Arsene due for a spending spree, as Gunners down rebuilt Spurs

As Arsene Wenger prepares for what is becoming his traditional late trolley dash on deadline day, Olivier Giroud continues to do his best to show the football world that there’s not as much wrong with the Arsenal front line as others seem to make out. Another goal for the French striker was enough to take down AVB’s ‘Bale-money-built’ team, and send the Gooners home in raptures, ,with promises of incoming stars the following day.

Deadline day speculation can be frenetic at the best of times, but this year there’s probably a chunk of substance to the rumours. The BBC are this morning reporting that Arsenal are “in advanced talks” with German international playmaker Mesut Ozil, with reports also circulating that strong bids will follow for his erstwhile Real Madrid team-mate Angel di Maria. It’s perhaps a little ironic that Arsenal’s bitter rivals Spurs, have probably contributed to making these deals possible with the sale of Gareth Bale to the Spanish club. That unintended consequence must add a certain piquancy to any Gooner fan’s delight.

Aside from a bit of Spanish shopping, Wenger is also being heavily linked with a number of other players. Newcastle United’s Yohan Cabaye remains a target for a midfield role, as does a cheeky approach to take Chelsea’s Juan Mata on loan. The former probably has legs, the latter, less so. There is also talk of a double approach to Serie A side Palermo. The targets being ‘keeper Viviano and front man Abel Hernandez. Again, there’s also a ‘local’ alternative front man with Chelsea’s Demba Ba available – although it remains to be seen whether the Blues would allow Ba to make the short trip across the capital. It would take a few pages to relate all of the speculation about possible Arsenal targets for today. The various names and clubs would be enough to make even Jim White’s head spin. What seems certain however is that there will be substantial movements into the Emirates.